And it came to pass, when Jesus had finished these words, the crowds were astonished at his doctrine,
The Sermon on the Mount ends here. Matthew records what it did to the people who heard it: they were astonished. Two questions follow. Who can speak like this? And what does astonishment prove?
Jesus taught His disciples. But a much larger crowd stood listening, and Matthew reports how they reacted.
"And when Jesus finished these sayings, the crowds were astonished at his teaching" (v. 28). The Lord's sermon has come to an end. His words were meant first of all for His disciples (see ch. 5:1), but the crowd listening was much larger. Many had listened to this serious and clear teaching, and it astonished them. It was different from what they were used to hearing from the Jewish scribes. His words were full of authority, wisdom and grace (Mark 1:22; 6:2; Luke 4:22).
The scribes were the recognised teachers of the day. One writer describes what leaning on them had done to Israel.
God's prophets had been silent for four hundred years, so the Jews had grown used to leaning on their rabbis. They had shown the same unbelief even in the days of the greatest prophets, as Isaiah testifies (Isa. 29:13). In Israel, and later among Christians, it was a sea of uncertainty and a clash of learned or reckless opinions. How could it be otherwise, when they were cheated into giving up God's word for man's ideas?
The same writer traces the root of the problem, and its result in any age.
Wherever trust in man takes the place of the truth, the result is always uncertainty before God. That is why people crave tradition, official authority passed down from one man to the next, and other such props for a weakness they feel inside... They were a class of men who handed on some knowledge of Scripture, crusted over with a coating of tradition that often hid and twisted even what was true in itself.
Why did He sound so different? One writer points back to a promise God made through Moses.
Until now the people had been shut up to the law given through Moses. Now they were to listen to the prophet like Moses (Deut. 34:10). Moses said that God would put His words into that prophet's mouth, and He would speak everything God commanded Him. From then on, blessing depended on people listening to Him. No wonder they saw a difference in Him. He taught, they said, as one who had authority, and not as their scribes (Matt. 7:29)! He was the prophet, but more than a prophet: He was God, the Son of God.
Authority like this needs a speaker who knows both man and God.
The Lord alone on earth was qualified to speak with an authority that was His own. More than anyone else He knew what was in man (John 2:25). He alone here below knew what was in God (John 3:11)... On the other hand, no one has ever seen God; the only Son, who is at the Father's side, has made Him known. So He is in every way qualified to speak with authority. Yet who was ever so humble?
What made that authority convincing? One writer looks past the miracles.
No wonder the crowds were astonished. No wonder they found this teaching different from the strange fancies, the outward show and the traditionalism of the scribes... This claim of authority called for the miracles that came with it. Yet it did not rest even on these. Above all it rested on the plain holiness and love and truth that summoned mind, heart and conscience into His presence, and made the whole person bow in reverence.
The crowd stopped at astonishment. That still happens today.
Many people today are still impressed by the words of the Sermon on the Mount. But they think they can use those words to lead mankind out of the misery and injustice of our world! So many admire the human greatness of Jesus of Nazareth without receiving Him by faith as the Son of God, their Saviour and Lord!
One writer adds a caution for anyone reading the sermon in search of peace with God.
To any anxious soul let me say, Do not mistake. The Lord is not here showing how the sinner is to get pardon and peace. He is teaching His disciples how they are to walk and please their Father.
- Speaker. He knew what was in man and what was in God. That is why He alone could teach with an authority of His own.
- Contrast. The scribes handed on Scripture crusted over with tradition. Leaning on them left Israel in a sea of uncertainty.
- Weight. The authority rested not even on miracles, but on the holiness, love and truth that were plainly there.
- Reaction. The crowd stopped at astonishment. They admired the greatness of Jesus without receiving Him as Saviour and Lord.
- Caution. The sermon shows disciples how to walk and please their Father; it is not the way a sinner gets pardon and peace.
for he taught them as having authority, and not as their scribes.
The Sermon on the Mount ends with shock, not applause. The crowds are struck as much by how Jesus spoke as by what He said — and the word for it is authority.
The crowds knew their own teachers well. What they heard that day came from somewhere else.
No wonder the crowds were astonished. No wonder they found this teaching different from the scribes, with their strange ideas, their outward show and their reliance on tradition. It was a Voice from a world beyond this earth, and the strange authority in it fitted it so well! Nothing else could have fitted it: any other tone would have meant giving up His whole mission. This claim of authority called for the miracles that went with it. Yet it rested above all not on these, but on the clear holiness and love and truth in Him, which drew mind, heart and conscience into His presence.
Jesus never leans on another teacher's name to back up what He says.
If it is the glory of other teachers to hide behind their subject, it is not so with Him. He brings His Person to the front, and does it without apology, in the most simple and natural way. He spoke with authority and never stopped to say why. He commanded without stating His right. He teaches in a way altogether different from others. He goes to the heart of things, and so carried conviction and exposed the recognised teachers of the day. He always honours and fulfils Holy Scripture, yet He cites no earlier authority for what He says.
This kind of authority needs what no human teacher has: full knowledge of man and full knowledge of God.
The Lord, alone on earth, was qualified to speak with authority peculiar to Himself. Beyond all others He knew what was in man (John 2:25): He alone here below knew what was in God (John 3:11)... On the other hand no one has seen God at any time; the Only-begotten Son who is in the bosom of the Father — He declared Him. So He is in every way qualified to speak with authority; yet who was ever so lowly?
Long before, Moses had promised Israel a prophet like himself.
He was the prophet Moses foretold, the one Israel was to listen to (Deuteronomy 18:15-19)... God, Moses said, would put His words into that prophet's mouth, and He would speak all that God commanded Him. From then on, blessing depended on people listening to Him. No wonder that people saw a difference in Him! He was the prophet, but more than a prophet — He was God, the Son of God. He did not speak like those of old, with a "Thus says the LORD." He did speak with authority. His hearers were to take what He said as the voice of God speaking to them.
The scribes taught Israel the law. Their failure was not ignorance. They leaned on what earlier men had handed down.
Wherever confidence in man takes the place of the truth, uncertainty before God always follows. So people crave tradition, official authority, authority handed down through a line of successors, and other such props of a weakness they feel. This was very largely the case with these scribes. Even their use of Scripture had no power in it. It did not come from a simple, happy-hearted confidence in God, and it did not produce one. They were a class who passed on a measure of scriptural knowledge, crusted over with a coating of tradition. That coating often hid and twisted even what was true in itself.
Another writer describes these men and what was missing in them:
They could tell accurately everything about the birth of Jesus... They were the keepers of the law, the copyists of the law, and they read and explained the law. But with all that, they had not the smallest personal interest in the things themselves. That is what they were. May God keep us from being scribes!
Because the speaker is who He is, His words do more than inform. They cut.
The Lord Jesus spoke with His own, undeniable authority. His words were the words of God, and therefore sharper than any two-edged sword (compare Hebrews 4:12). As Son of God He revealed the thoughts of God. But He also knew how the heart of man would answer His words, which pierced it like a sword.
- Source. The authority is not a style of speaking but a Person. He knows what is in man and what is in God, and yet He is lowly.
- Sign. He speaks in His own name and quotes no earlier teacher. This is the prophet Moses promised, whose words carry God's own voice.
- Contrast. The scribes leaned on tradition. Leaning on man always leaves the soul unsure before God.
- Warning. Full knowledge of Scripture with no personal interest in it is the scribe's disease, and it can be ours.
- Response. His word carries God's own authority and cuts to the heart. So the fitting answer is not admiration but obedience.